Fulacht fia

The National Monuments Service's description

In wet pasture 20m W of a stream that marks the townland boundary with Tynacocka. Not depicted on OSi historic maps. Identified as (BGE 3/77/3) in 2002 by Ken Wiggins (Licence 02E0119) during topsoil-stripping on the Bord Gáis Éireann Pipeline to the West. Burnt spread excavated in 2002 by Brian Halpin under licence No. 02E0395 the results of which were summarised as follows; ‘The spread was subcircular, with a maximum diameter of 5.5m, and was generally oriented north–south. It was a maximum of 0.6m deep. The fill was characterised by charcoal-rich material with heat-shattered sandstone, typical of the fill associated with a fulacht fiadh. On removal of the mound, a small, shallow depression was revealed in the centre of the site. It had a maximum length of 0.84m and was just 0.06m deep, seen as a slight depression in the subsoil rather than a possible trough (Halpin 2004, 331)’. Monument has been fully excavated and is not visible on aerial images.

Compiled by: Martin Fitzpatrick

Date of upload: 20 May 2021

References

Halpin, B. 2004 Knockuregare; Burnt spread. In I. Bennett (ed.) Excavations 2002: Summary Accounts of Archaeological Excavations in Ireland, 331, No. 1205. Wordwell, Bray.